Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 172, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1915 — MESA VERDE PROPHETS [ARTICLE]

MESA VERDE PROPHETS

Indians Who Foretold Our Wet Summer Now Say That We Shall Have Long Cold Winter. Wheatfield Review. Special bulletin from Department of Interior, Washington, D. C., to the Review: The season so far verifies the weather predictions of the Indians who occasionally visit the Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado for trading purposes, but who never stay an hour longer than is necessary because of their dread of the “little people” whom they believe stiff inhabit, in spirit form, the prehistoric cliff dwellings that have made the Mancos Valley famous the world over. Last fall the Mesa Verde prairie dogs deserted their villages for new ones and the Indians have been shaking their heads over it all winter. “Rain, much rain,” they say; “rain all summer.” So far they seem to have predicted right. And now they are again shaking their heads. “Cold, much cold,” they say; “bad weather coming.” And why? Because this summer game has been unusually plentiful on the Mesa Verde. Deer are more frequently seen than for years. Rabbits and hares are so numerous one can scarcely go about without seeing them in large numbers. Coyotes and mountain lions are also unusually plentiful, which may be explained by the abundance of the small game on which they live. —: